Springboks flyer Bryan Habana
The Wallabies have been the source of great pain and great satisfaction in Bryan Habana’s glittering Test career.
After the anguish of the 2011 World Cup quarter-final – a game still capable of sending a collective shudder through a Springboks team room – and the elation of last year’s watershed Test victory at Suncorp Stadium, it is fitting that the South African winger will play his 100th Test against the Wallabies in Perth.
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Habana has scored nine of his 56 Test tries against Australia – his highest number against any nation – and five of those nine came from three Tests in Perth in 2005, 2009 and 2012.
But the 31-year-old said he now defines himself by his contribution to the group off the field as much as on it.
“Australia has always been a great team to come up against,” Habana said. “Our record over the last four years hasn’t been as great as we would have liked it to be.
“We had that great victory in Brisbane last year and even though I didn’t score a try it was probably one of the most enjoyable ones I’ve been a part of as a Springbok.
“I have suffered a 49-0 defeat at the hands of the Wallabies in Brisbane (in 2006), and it’s great to come up against the best teams in the world.
“You always want to test yourself against the best and whether that’s me scoring tries or just contributing in terms of leadership and general work rate … the contribution you make is a lot more important than what actually happens behind the try line.
“It would be awesome to score my 10th try against Australia in my 100th Test but the contribution I need to give as a senior player who’s been there before will be a lot bigger off the field than on it come Saturday.”
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie paid tribute to the Johannesburg-raised winger, but joked he was also happy for Habana’s achievements to distract his teammates.
“I like it when there’s milestones because people get distracted,” McKenzie said. “Hopefully they get all hyped on that, and we’ll just run on there and do our business.
“He’s had a stellar career. A terrific person and a great contributor.
A really good player and he’s obviously been, in different parts of his career, in different provinces over there, different outcomes and different roles, but 100 games – that’s an outstanding achievement.
“Hopefully they spend a lot of time celebrating and not worrying about tactics against us too much.”